


Kingdom Hearts: Altered Mix

by HeartOfDarkness1138



Category: Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, All Characters Are Bi, Alternate Canon, Bisexual Sora, Disney, FF10, FF7 - Freeform, Friends to Rivals to Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Retelling, Slow Romance, Swordfighting, Unrequited Love, ff8 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28722753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartOfDarkness1138/pseuds/HeartOfDarkness1138
Summary: An alternate retelling of the first Kingdom Hearts. The goal is to fix some flaws in the game's plot and overall just make it a better story Examples being, giving much more emphasis to the Final Fantasy half of the crossover, making Kairi more of a character instead of just a driving plot point, being more consistent with other games in the series (mostly BBS), giving legitimate story significance to summons, etc.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Island Origins

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned in the description, the aim of this story is mostly to just flesh out the characters more, but also adding in plenty of new ideas that weren't in the game in order to justify me actually writing this whole thing. The first chapter is obviously the game's prologue, so don't expect anything too drastic yet, but I promise that'll come within the first few chapters. There's still enough changed here though that I recommend reading through it, whether or not you enjoy Destiny Island in the game. Most notably: Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka actually act like Sora's friends and not just set pieces, Kairi has a more interesting personality and relationship with Sora (at least I think so), and, of course, Sora has a crush on Riku. If all that sounds interesting, then I hope you enjoy the fic!

I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately…

Like… Is any of this for real or not?

A woman with pure white skin. A woman with a fantastical gown. A woman surrounded by fairies. All embedded in flawless stained-glass.

Three weapons sitting atop pedestals. A sword, a shield, a staff, all radiating a powerful energy.

_So much to do, so little time…_

A voice coming from the void.

_Take your time. Don’t be afraid. The door is still shut. Step forward. Can you do it?_

A few steps closer toward the weapons before the voice spoke again.

_Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well._

After much deliberation, a weapon is chosen.

_The sword. The path of the warrior. This path will grant you invincible courage, yet it may lead to uncontrollable destruction. Is this the path you choose to walk down?_

Yes

_Very well. Use this power to protect yourself and others._

Shadows begin to grow, the darkness taking on monstrous forms.

_There will be times when you must fight. Keep your light burning strong._

The shadows attack. The sword cuts through the dark, replacing it with light. The monsters are banished one by one, leaving only brightness in their wake.

_But be wary. The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes._

A final monster appears. This one much larger, much more destructive than the others.

_Don’t be afraid. And don’t forget…_

The creature attacks, its power unmatched. The sword damages it, but it can not be vanquished. Blows are traded, but a winner can not be decided. Finally, the sword is lost. The shadow has won. It summons dark energies that warp the world, blacking out the glass women and the pedestals, leaving nothing but a void.

_…You hold the mightiest weapon of all. You are the one who will open the door._

Sora shot up from his nap on the beach, holding his chest as he breathed rapidly. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. He’d never been so happy to have sunlight shining in his eyes. All of that was just a dream… Right? If it was, why did it feel so real…? He yawned, his body reminding him that he was too tired to be stressing over dreams. Nightmares or not, he needed a few more hours of sleep. As he laid back down, he locked eyes with a figure standing over him. He screamed as he bolted up again. “Kairi!” He snapped, heart still pounding from the scare as his friend giggled at him.

“I knew you’d be snoozing someplace, ya lazy bum~” Kairi teased.

Sora shook his head. “Wait, Kairi, listen! This huge thing swallowed me up! There was nothing, I couldn’t breath, I-” He was silenced by a gentle smack to the head.

“No more naps in the sand for you, they give you nightmares!” The girl scolded playfully. Smiling, she stepped past her friend, letting the ocean’s waves hit her toes.

The boy sighed. “It didn’t feel like a dream though. It all felt so real, and so bizarre. The monsters, the shadows, the women…”

His friend perked up and turned around. “Women, huh~?” She was suddenly interested in whatever Sora was talking about. He was too innocent to understand her implications though, continuing his explanation as normal.

“Yeah! I saw three pictures of girls in dresses. It was weird... I’d never seen them before, but they felt like old friends..." The girl rolled her eyes and turned back to face the sea.

“Boriiiing. You’re the only boy I know who doesn’t have exciting dreams about girls.” Her friend huffed, blushing as he finally understood her.

“Yeah, well you’re the only girl I know who’s such a big perv.” Sora spat back, causing his friend to giggle maniacally. The two laughed together for a bit before Sora stood and joined the other at the water’s edge. “Hey, Kairi?” He started as he stared out at the ocean, eyes focused on the vast horizon. “Are you certain you don’t remember what your world was like?”

She shook her head. “Nothing at all. I keep telling you that.”

Sora nodded with a sigh. “Do you… Think we’ll see it when we go out there?”

“Well we won’t if you two don’t help me with the raft!” Both friends spun around to see another boy heading in their direction. He was smirking at the two and carrying a large log with one hand over his shoulder.

“Riku!!” Sora stretched his arms out, expecting a hug, but was met with the log tossed at him, knocking him down flat. Riku walked past the helpless boy to Kairi. “I expect this from him, but why are you slacking off?”

Kairi gave an exaggerated pout. “I am not! For your information, I was coming over here to get Sora, who was sleeping!!”

The silver-haired boy nodded. “Uh-huh. And it took you twenty minutes to wake him?”

His friend laughed nervously. “Well… Maybe I got a little sidetracked on my way.”

Riku sighed with a smile as he went to sit down next to Sora, who was still struggling with the log. “What am I gonna do with you two… You know if I make the raft on my own, I’m leaving on my own too, right?”

Sora finally managed to push the log off of himself and sat up angrily. “Wait, no, you can’t! We’ll work on the raft!!”

The other boy smirked. “Tell you what. I’ll race you to the raft, if either of you win I’ll let you both take the day off tomorrow, but if I win, you two are on your own.”

His friends stood up straight. “You’re on!!!” They shouted in unison. They immediately took off toward the other end of the island with Riku right behind them. The trio laughed as they played, blissfully unaware that the end would soon be at hand. The door was almost open.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora pouted as he and his friends approached a tree on a cliff at the edge of the island. “Still can’t believe Riku beat both of us even with a head start…” They had been working on the raft all day and the sun was beginning to set, but Sora was still upset about the result of the race.

His friend lightly punched his shoulder. “Oh quit whining, the raft is finished, all you’ll have to do tomorrow is get food.”

Sora shook his head. “I don’t care about the work, I’m just upset that you beat me again!”

“Sora-” Kairi interjected. “Riku spends all his time training and stuff while you’re always napping, what would you expect to happen?” Riku nodded in agreement, giving a teasing smirk.

“Whatever, I hate both of you…” The brunette huffed as they made it to the tree. Kairi stepped forward and hopped up onto a large branch that was sticking out. Sora tried to do the same but failed, needing the girl to help him up. Riku just leaned his back against the branch next to the others. This was their usual spot, the trio often came to the tree to relax.

Sora sighed as he stared out into the endless ocean. “So… Kairi’s world is out there, somewhere, right? Do you guys think the raft could really take us all the way there?”

Riku nodded. “It will. And to many others. If not, we’ll just try again.” His voice was stern and determined, far more so than the other two. He’d been getting like that a lot lately when they talked about other worlds.

Kairi spoke up to lighten the mood. “Okay, but what will we even do when we get to another world?” It was a light question which Riku gave an expectedly serious answer to.

“Does it matter? Isn’t just going to another world enough? We’ve been stuck on this one our entire lives. Won’t it be amazing just to see something different? Our world is just a small piece of something so much bigger, it’ll be amazing to finally see what we’ve been missing out on this entire time. And plus, there’s nothing to do here, it’s just the same old stuff every day. No matter where we end up, it’ll be better than here.” The other two stayed quiet for a few moments, taking in what their friend said.

Finally, Kairi spoke again. “You’ve been… Thinking a lot about this, haven’t you?” She was honestly intrigued by her friend’s immense interest.

Riku shook his head and smirked. “Yeah, sorry about that. Honestly it started ever since you first came here. If it weren’t for you, I might never have had the urge to leave. So thanks Kairi.” There was a bit more to it. Another reason he needed to explore, but he wasn’t ready to share it yet.

Kairi giggled. “You’re welcome!” She replied happily before hopping out of the tree. “No offense though, but if you give another speech, I’m gonna pass out.” She gave an exaggerated yawn. “I’m gonna head home. Don’t have too much fun alone boys~!” She laughed as she headed off toward home.

Riku waited, watching until Kairi got to her boat before turning to Sora. “Okay, she’s gone. Wanna share a paopu?”

Sora’s face reddened and he turned away. “Don’t even joke about that, no!!” he snapped, causing his friend to burst out in laughter.

“Aww, come on, not even a little bite?” Riku teased further. “You know what they say about paopu fruit, when two people share one their destinies become forever intertwined. You’re telling me you really don’t wanna be with me your entire life~?”

Sora stayed silent for a bit before speaking out softly. “Well, I mean, maybe sharing one with you wouldn’t be so bad…” Riku laughed even harder, nudging Sora and knocking him out of the tree.

“Dork, I knew you wanted to.” He started walking off in the direction Kairi left in. “I’m not hungry right now though, sorry. But I’ll tell you what. Beat me in a sword fight sometime and we can share one.” He offered before running off, leaving his friend on the ground and extremely red.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Early the next morning, as the group of friends were only barely waking up, a castle buzzed with life many worlds away. Enchanted broomsticks walked throughout the halls attending to chores, as the castle’s residents went about their own morning routines. One of the residents was particularly active as he walked toward the castle’s throne room. Donald Duck, the royal magician, waddled quickly past a row of marching brooms as he made his way to the king’s room. The doors to the throne room were massive, but when the duck knocked, a smaller part of the door opened up to let him pass. “Good morning, your majesty!” Donald called out, but received no answer. When he looked, the king was nowhere to be seen in the room. “What?! Where-” As he frantically checked around the room, the king’s dog came out from behind the throne. “Pluto!” Donald rushed over. “Do you know where Mickey is??” In response, the dog spat out a letter that he had been holding in his mouth. Donald grimaced as he picked up the envelope, shaking off the slobber before opening it. His eyes widened as he read through the note. As he got to the end, he screeched out loudly and sped out of the room.

In the courtyard of the castle, the captain of the royal guard was sleeping in the shade of a topiary hedge. The knight snored loudly, unaware of the screaming duck charging toward him. “Goofy!!! Get up quick!” Donald yelled out as he approached. The dog still snoozed though, despite the urgency. Growling, the magician snapped his fingers and sent a jolt of electricity into the knight, shocking him awake.

“WHA! What, huh??” Goofy looked around in a panic until he saw his friend standing above him. “Oh! It’s only you Donald. G’morning!” The duck shook his head angrily.

“Don’t ‘g’morning’ me, we got a huge problem! One you can’t tell anyone about!”

“...Queen Minnie?” Was all Goofy had to say in response.

“No! Not even the queen!”

“Daisy?”

Donald clenched his beak in frustration. “NO!! What part of ‘can’t tell anyone’ didn’t you get?!”

Goofy looked past his friend with a dopey smile. “Mornin' ladies!”

“What…” Donald swallowed hard before turning around, seeing the two women glaring at him. He laughed nervously and waved. “Uh… Good morning?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora was frantically rushing to get ready. It wasn’t at all uncommon for him to sleep in well after his friends were up. He was attempting to dress up in his intricate outfit and eat a plate of fruit at the same time with very little luck. His mother had to hold back laughter as she watched him struggle. “Sora, honey, slow down, you’re not gonna be able to do either of those like that.”

“I can’t slow down mom, I’m already late!! Riku and Kairi are at the island by now!” The boy replied with concern, still trying to do two things at once. Unable to hold back a small chuckle, his mother walked over and pulled his breakfast away.

“You can have this back when you’re dressed, okay?” Sora huffed and reluctantly put on his vest and many accessories. He gave a meek thanks before grabbing for his plate. Sora only ate a bit more before getting up from the table and bolting to the door.

“Bye mom, love you, I’ll be back before dark!” He shouted as he ran out toward the shore. There was a lone dinghy that the boy took from the mainland to the island, parking it next to his friends’ boats.

“Took you long enough!” Kairi snapped as soon as he stepped foot on land. “I can’t find the supplies on my own! Riku is taking the day off ‘cause he won that race, and those three still won’t help.” She gestured behind her to the three other kids who spent their time on the island. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka also hung out on the island and were close to Sora’s group. They supported the raft idea, but none intended on joining on the voyage so they didn’t put all too much effort in helping. “Can you grab all the food we need Sora? Pretty please?” Kairi batted her eyes cutely.

“Wait, what??” Sora was a little overwhelmed getting yelled at right away. “Why exactly can’t you get the supplies?”

Kairi hesitated, embarrassed by her answer. “I had a new project idea and I need you to get everything while I do that. You’re lucky I was able to keep my focus long enough to tell you that.” Kairi often ignored what she was supposed to be doing and found her own thing. It annoyed the boys sometimes, but they knew it was just how she was, and given the choice they wouldn’t change that about her.

Sora rolled his eyes. “Kai… Fine, I’ll get the stuff, but you owe me for this.” He huffed, pushing by her. He got a few steps forward before stopping and turning back around. “Wait um… What am I looking for exactly?”

Kairi giggled. “Dummy. I have the list written down. Let me just-” She reached for her shorts but couldn’t find what she was looking for. She checked all her pockets but came back empty handed. She meekly turned back to her friend. “Heh, so uh, I lost the list Riku gave me… Whoopsie.” Sora groaned, but the girl spoke up again. “Wait, I think it was near the raft! Stay here and I’ll get it.” She suggested before running off.

Sora sighed as he sat down on the dock where their boats were, staring into the water while he waited. Selphie was on the other side of the dock toying with something that the boy couldn’t see. When several minutes had passed without Kairi coming back, Sora decided to cross over and sit with the other girl. “Hey Selphie. What are you up to?” She jumped, not realizing he was next to her.

“Ah! Sora, hi!!” Getting a closer look, the boy saw that Selphie had been holding a paopu fruit. She held it up when she saw Sora looking at it. “You know about these, right? Whoever shares the fruit have their destinies entwined? I was just thinking about that, I can’t wait until I meet someone I can share one with!” She clutched the fruit tightly, holding it close to her.

Sora reddened just a bit as he remembered what Riku had said the night before. “Uh, yeah, I know about them…” He replied absently. Selphie grinned.

“Awww, that look, you have someone in mind you wanna share one with, don’t you~?” She teased, causing the boy’s face to darken even further.

“What?! No of course not!! There’s no way I’d actually share on with-” He stopped short before he could accidentally embarrass himself. “Uh… You know what, I haven’t talked to the others today, I wonder what they’re up to!” He ran off in a panic, leaving Selphie laughing to herself.

On another part of the beach, Tidus and Wakka threw a ball back and forth intensely. All the kids on the island were physically adept, but those two were probably most powerful in terms of brute strength. They often played violently with their blitzball, which none of the others dared interfere with. Getting hit by a speeding object sounded more pleasant to Sora than continuing his conversation with Selphie though, so here he was. Tidus smiled as he noticed the boy, taking a break to greet him. “Hi Sor-” He was interrupted by a hit to the face that knocked him to the ground.

“Ha! A win for me!!” Wakka yelled in triumph. He turned in surprise when he saw his other friend standing near him. “Oh! Sora, hey, how long you been there?”

Sora laughed in response. “Looks like you two are up to the same stuff as usual.”

Tidus nodded as he stood up, looking unphased by the hit. “Yup, pretty much. Ooh, the three of us are finally gonna check out that secret place later if you wanna join!” He gestured behind him to the big natural stone structure that took up most of the small island. There was a small hole in the wall, just barely large enough to crawl through, that led to a large cave. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie had mentioned several times about exploring the hidden area, but for one reason or another they never ended up getting around to it (that reason always being that they were too scared, but none would admit it). After all this time though, none of them had realized yet that the other trio used to play there all the time.

It had been a long while since they’d been in there, but Sora, Kairi, and Riku drew pictures all over the walls as kids. It was Kairi’s idea to not tell them that the secret place had already been fully explored, she thought it would be funny to see their reactions when they finally got to it. Sora wasn’t amazing at keeping secrets, but he still did his best not to let this one out. “Oh, uh, nah, I’m gonna be with Kairi all day, but you guys have fun!” He was careful not to let too much mischievous intent leak into his voice. He frowned suddenly though, the mention of his friend souring his mood. “Actually, wait a sec… Kairi’s been gone way too long.” He rushed off away from the boys, heading toward the other end of the island where the raft was.

Sora only got about halfway around the small island when Riku stopped him. “Yo, Sora, you got a sec?” He interrupted. The boy immediately forgot all about his mission the moment he heard the other’s voice.

“Riku!! Of course!” He answered cheerfully, forgetting about Kairi for the time being.

“So I’ve been thinking… Our raft needs a name, doesn’t it? I really like ‘Highwind’.” Riku suggested confidently.

Sora frowned. “What? That’s a dumb name! We need something that sounds awesome! Something like… ‘Excalibur’!”

Riku had to roll his eyes in response. “You really don’t get nuance, do you? Good names aren’t just about what sounds cool, you gotta have some subtlety.”

The other boy faked a yawn. “Boring! Just admit you’re bad at coming up with names!” he huffed defiantly. Before Riku could argue, They saw Kairi running up to them.

“Hey Sora!!” She shouted. “You were supposed to come meet up with me!” She complained.

“What?! You said you’d come back after you got the list!” Sora shot back.

“... Crap, I did, didn’t I?” She asked, having completely forgotten. “Oh well, not important. Anyway, I heard you two shouting and I wanted to know about the drama.” She grinned deviously.

Before Riku could explain, Sora blurted out. “Riku is really bad at names but he won’t let me name the raft!” Riku opened his mouth to argue but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get through if he tried.

“...yup, that’s exactly what happened.” He relented.

Kairi smirked. “I know how to settle this!”

Sora and Riku now stood side-by-side on the beach, with Kairi grinning behind them. “Okay! First to the star tree and back gets to name the boat!”

Riku smirked and whispered to his friend. “Hey, Sora. Whoever wins this gets to take the first bite of the paopu.”

The brunette turned red as the girl behind him yelled “GO!” Sora fumbled due to his embarrassment, giving Riku a head start, taking off across the beach. The star tree was at the very far end of this section of the beach, past the sand and through a very small forest of palm trees. Riku dashed through the sand, making his way quickly to his goal. Sora didn’t stay down for long though, and soon began catching up to his rival. About halfway through the course was a tall, wooden watchtower with a zipline leading to the palm trees. Riku hated using it since it took away from the challenge, but Sora considered it fair game. As Riku got close to the star-shaped tree, Sora zipped down, leaping in front of him. Riku got close, but the other boy managed to touch the tree first. Sora grinned as he passed by his rival on the way back, until it dawned on him that he couldn’t take the zipline back up. Turning to look behind him, he saw Riku quickly catching up to him. Sora ran as fast as he could, but his friend was still faster, and it didn’t take long for him to pass the brunette. The final stretch leading up to Kairi was raised too high to run to, only accessible by wooden platforms sticking out of the water. By the time they got to it, Riku was way in the lead, moments away from their destination. Sora gritted his teeth as he exerted himself, finally going a little faster than his rival, but it was too late by this point. Riku leapt onto the final platform, but one of the planks gave out under his weight. He fell along with it into the water. Sora managed to jump the gap with no issues, making his way to Kairi as Riku lifted himself out of the water.

Sora and Kairi cheered at his unexpected victory. “WOO!! You did it Sora! You finally beat Riku!” The two hugged as they jumped up and down in joy.

Riku scoffed, finally getting back to them. “Guys, it’s just a name, calm down.” He scolded while he wrung himself out.

Sora let go of his other friend and smiled triumphantly at his rival. “It’s not just the ship name, this is the first time I’ve beaten you! I can have a little pride for that, can’t I?” He fought back playfully.

The silver haired boy sighed, but smiled. “Heh… Is this really the very first time? Guess I owe you a little more than naming rights then.” He fished through one of his pockets before pulling out a small, red gem. “I found this a while ago. You can take it as a prize.” He tossed the Pretty Stone, and Sora just barely managed to catch it, staring at it in awe with a slight colour on his cheeks. “Oh, also” Riku continued, “don’t worry about the paopu thing. I only said it to get that head start. Although, I mean, if you really want to…”

“RIKU!” Sora snapped quickly. “Don’t say that in front of-!” As he spoke, he realized Kairi had long since gone, now sitting by the raft and toying with sea shells.

Riku laughed and nudged his friend’s shoulder. “You say that as if she doesn’t already know how we talk when she’s not around. Anyway though, I’m gonna get going, I still have the day off from raft work. You and Kairi better get going though, no sense in naming a ship you can’t ride.” He patted the other’s back before taking off to the other side of the island.

Sora huffed as he left toward Kairi. She stood by the raft, diligently working on something with seashells and barely noticing when her friend came up to her. “Alright Kai, we should probably get to work.” He put emphasis on “work” hoping that she’d take the hint and stop what she was doing.

Kairi nodded absently. “Uh, yeah, sure…” without looking at him, she held up a piece of paper, eyes still on her shells. “Here’s the list of provisions, go ahead.”

“Kairiiiiiiii!” The boy whined. “You’re really not gonna help me at all?!” He took the paper anyway, but still really didn’t want to do all of it.

The girl frowned, finally looking up. “Soraaaa this is important!!” She held up her creation, which was just three seashells tied together with string. Her friend pouted though and tears began to well up in his eyes. Sighing, Kairi finally gave in. “Okay, okay… Just get half the stuff and I’ll do the rest when I’m done with this, alright?”

Sora smiled and wiped his eyes before hugging her tightly. “Thanks Kai!” He ran off with the list in his hand.

Sora stood knee-deep in water as he tried and failed to grab any fish that swam by. He fell again and again trying to catch the creatures with his bare hands, soaking himself completely. He was so focused he hadn’t noticed the small crowd of Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka at the edge of the sand watching him until one spoke up. “Hey, Sora?” Tidus called out, causing the boy in the water to fall over in surprise. “You uh… You need any help there?”

Sora glared as he stood back up. “Don’t scare me like that!! And no, I don’t need help, I can grab at least one fish on my own.” Another passed by and Sora tried again, ending up falling headfirst into the water. Tidus and Wakka both laughed before stepping into the ocean.

“Sora, you gotta do it like this, ya?” Wakka explained, grabbing a fish from the water without issue.

Sora stood angrily. “That’s exactly what I’m doing!!” He tried and failed again.

Tidus shrugged and grabbed a fish too. “It’s pretty easy, you just have to focus. Then again though, we spend nearly all our time in the water while you’re always sleeping so…”

“Whatever!” Sora snapped, upset at his lack of skill. “Can you guys just… Grab a few more please? We need them for the trip.” The two happily agreed, gathering a small pile of fish as Sora finally left the water.

Selphie sighed. “Man, I really wanna go on a raft ride… It sounds so romantic.” She pouted as she stared off longingly.

“Just come with us then.” Sora suggested as he wrung out his wet clothes.

Selphie shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t leave these two dopes alone. No telling what trouble they’ll get in without me around.” She gestured to the boys in the water who had stopped gathering and started throwing the caught fish at each other playfully. “You three have fun though!” Sora nodded in understanding before going to collect the fish, which the boys had to reluctantly give up. Before he could leave with the pile though, Tidus called to him.

“Oh, Sora, wait! You guys are leaving tomorrow morning right? How about one last spar before you go!”

Sora thought for a moment but frowned. “Sorry guys...I promised Riku I’d work on the raft all day.”

Selphie snickered deviously in response. “Oh. speaking of Riku, did he tell you he finally managed to beat all three of us in a fight at once? I bet he’d have a lot of respect for you if you could to the same~” Sora wasted no time in dropping his fish and running to the middle of the beach with the others.

The six teens often fought one another for fun, it was one of their favourite pastimes. None of their parents would let them use real weapons unfortunately, but they managed to improvise well enough. Wakka used the ball he always played with, Selphie whipped a jump rope around, and Tidus used a small wooden pole. The other three though all used similar wooden swords. Out of everyone though, Riku was by far the best fighter on the island, undefeated at solo fights and apparently great at multi-fights now too. Sora was determined to live up to him, but that wasn’t going so well right now. Sora’s sword clashed against Tidus’ staff, but he was unable to stop Wakka’s ball from smacking him in the face. He managed to keep his bearings after the hit, but a whip from Selphie’s jump rope sent him to the ground. Sora stayed on the sand, sore from all the attacks. That was honestly all he could muster. His admiration for Riku wasn’t strong enough to bring him back up. But something else was. Sora felt his heart pulse. Not his actual heart, but something deeper inside him.

_You are the one who will open the door._

The voice permeated through his being. He jolted up, toy sword grasped firmly. His fists clenched around the handle as he swung quickly at Tidus, not giving his opponent the chance to block the hit. Wakka’s ball came flying again, but Sora managed to slash at just the right moment to send the object back at its thrower. The jump rope managed to hit him from behind, but the boy wasn’t knocked over this time. He turned around quickly, and when the rope came again, he blocked the hit. He ran up and hit Selphie hard, knocking her to the ground. The three weren’t quite finished, but It didn’t take much longer for Sora to be the last one standing. The boy stood in disbelief at what he had just done. It was rare that he did this well in a one-on-one fight with any of his friends, beating all three should have been impossible. Before he could figure out what had happened though he was interrupted.

Wakka groaned as he rubbed his head, not used to being on the receiving end of the blitzball. “Man… What was that? You’ve never been nearly that good!”

“It was like fighting Riku…” Tidus complained.

Sora was still confused, but he couldn’t help be proud of himself. “I… I did it… I did it! I’m as good as Riku!!!” He cheered, his concern forgotten.

Despite her pain, Selphie laughed. “Nah… I guarantee you still can’t beat him in a fight."

Sora frowned. “What?! No way, after that I can totally beat Riku! Just watch!” He ran off leaving the three in the sand to recover.

Wakka leaned over as much as he could to talk to Selphie. “Hey, what’s up with you talking about Riku all of a sudden?”

She giggled. “Oh, I realized recently that I can get Sora to do anything if I mention Riku, so I was testing that out for fun.” The boys both nodded in understanding, everyone more aware of Sora’s feelings that he himself was.

“Riku, Riku!!” Sora called out in excitement as he approached his friend next to the tree they usually gathered at. “I beat everyone at once, just like you did! I’m officially as strong as you now!” The silver-haired boy scoffed, responding by picking up his own sword that he had next to him.

“Are you now? We’ll see about that.” Sora was taken off guard by his friend’s suddenness. He didn’t even ask to fight him. There was no backing out of it though. Riku turned around swiftly and struck without warning. Sora managed to block, but he was still staggered. Sora swung his weapon, but Riku jumped up, right over the brunette’s head, landing behind him. A hit to the back was enough to knock Sora down. He waited for the pulsing in his soul again, but it never came. He did everything he could think to do to activate that weird power again, but he wasn’t able. For the briefest moment though, he felt his heart connect to Riku’s. It felt… wrong. Bad. Powerful.

Sora sat up wearily, discarding his sword. “Okay, fine, guess I’m still not quite as strong you…” He looked up at the face he always loved to see, no matter the circumstance. But after that small connection, for the first time, he felt uncomfortable looking at Riku. Riku turned his head away, avoiding his friend’s glare.

“You know this still counts as slacking off, right? You should get going on those provisions.” He suggested solemnly, going back to lean against the tree again without another word. Sora quickly scurried away, unable to be around the other boy right now.

After having finally dropped the fish off with Kairi, Sora was off looking for mushrooms. He figured they would be easier to get than fish, but he was having a lot of difficulty searching for them. His other friends were resting at various parts of the island, so he decided not to ask them to help out more. And he obviously couldn’t get Riku’s help. _Come on…_ he struggled to think to himself Kairi said they grow in dark places… _Oh!_ He took off toward the cave in the middle of the island.

The Secret Place was as dark and damp as always. It wasn’t the most pleasant place to be in, but it held a lot of memories. Sora gave a nostalgic smile at the drawings that covered the walls. He vividly remembered when each one was drawn by him, Kairi, and Riku, but when he thought about it he realized it had been ages since he’d actually been here. And that door… A wooden door was connected to one of the walls. As kids they never thought anything of it, but he realized now how weird it was. He tried to ignore it though, he had a mission.

At the very back of the cave, a group of edible mushrooms had grown in. As the boy reached down to grab them, he got face-level with the last drawing they had ever done. Sora and Kairi were currently sixteen. They were about ten when they had drawn this. For a very brief while when they were kids, the two were together. Well, as ‘together’ as two ten year olds could be at least, which didn’t actually mean much. Really the only thing that changed from their friendship was that now Kairi yelled “Sora is my boyfriend!” every once in a while and used that as an excuse to force Sora to do stuff for her, but that was it. And it didn’t take long at all before she got bored of that and moved on, probably lasting a week or two at most. During that short time though was when the two last came into here. They had decided to draw crude portraits of one another. They weren’t very good, but they were still cute. Sora traced over the images with his fingers and smiled. As memories flooded his head all at once, he got an impulsive idea. He picked up a rock and began to carve into the cave wall, below the drawing of him. It took him a good few minutes, but when he pulled back, the drawing was now of him giving a paopu fruit to Kairi. His heart was beating quickly by the time he was finished. He wasn’t certain what made him do it, he didn’t have the same desire to share one with her as he did with Riku… Or did he? He honestly couldn't tell. Maybe it was just lingering emotions from when he was a dumb kid. Regardless of his confusing emotions, in the moment his heart told him it was right.

As he was admiring his image and contemplating his feelings, the sound of breathing filled the cave. Sora froze up in fear. “Who… Who’s there?” His voice was shaky.

“I’ve come to see the door of this world.” The voice was deep. Far too deep to be one of his friends.

Sora finally turned around, seeing a faceless being in a brown coat. “What are you talking about…?” He asked anxiously.

“This world has been connected.” The voice boomed again as the being moved closer. “Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed.”

Sora swallowed and stood his ground, trying to look confident. “L-look, whoever you are, stop freaking me out! Show me your face!”

The figure ignored the request. “You do not yet know what lies beyond this world’s door.”

The boy’s fear began to subside, replaced by amazement. “‘This world’… So you’re from another world!” The other didn’t respond, but paused in acknowledgement.

“You understand so little.” They finally replied condescendingly.

Sora frowned in frustration. “Oh yeah? Well you’ll see! I’ll go to other worlds and learn everything!!”

The being continued their advance. “A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.” Before Sora could argue again, the figure stopped suddenly. They turned their head slowly toward the door at the back of the cave. Sora followed their gaze, staring at the piece of wood for a moment. When he looked back, the hooded being was gone without a trace.

Sora had left the cave as fast as he could, rushing back to Kairi. He didn’t say anything when he got to the raft, too busy catching his breath, but she could clearly tell something was wrong. “Sora? Are you alright??” She held him protectively. This was far from the first time he went to her arms for comfort. He nodded though.

“I’m fine. It’s fine. I just… Had some bad thoughts is all.” He didn’t know how to tell her exactly what had happened. It wasn’t entirely untrue though. The experience he’d just had was so ethereal, it definitely could have been his imagination. His mind wandered as she held him, until his friend dangled something in front of his face.

The completed craft was five shells strung together in a star shape attached to a chain. “This is what I’ve been working on.” Kairi announced proudly. “It’s a necklace made of thalassa shells. It’s called a ‘wayfinder’. Sailors make these charms to ensure a safe voyage. It also makes certain the three of us will be together forever.” She dropped it gently into his hands. “So no more bad thoughts, okay?” Tears formed again as Sora held the charm. The deepest depths of his heart reacted to the small trinket, filling him with nostalgia and heartbreak at once. His emotions were inexplicable, but at least one thing he knew for sure, he really loved his best friend. He smiled and hugged her tightly.

“Thank you Kai…” They stayed like that for a little while until Sora finally looked up. The sun had begun to set behind them, which usually meant it was time to call it a day. Neither cared their work wasn’t finished, that was an issue they’d deal with tomorrow. Without saying anything, both instinctively started heading toward their tree that they hung out at every night. Sora stopped her part way there though. “Um… Do you think we can go to the dock instead? Riku is at the tree and…” He didn’t need to finish. Kairi nodded and they headed for the other side of the island.

The two friends sat in silence on the pier, unsure of what to say. Kairi had just as much on her mind as Sora did and neither knew where to start. After a while though, Kairi was the first to speak up. “So um. I wanna talk about Riku…” Sora knew this was a long-time coming. He didn’t object, just braced himself for an awkward conversation. “I know you two are in love, but-”

“Wait what?!” Sora interrupted as his face turned beet red. “I’m not-” He sighed, trying to figure out how to word things. “I mean… I don’t know. I like him obviously, I know you all figured that out a while ago. And maybe… I guess I kinda might be a little in love...” He took a deep breath, never having said any of this out loud before. He knew he could trust Kairi with this more than anyone, but it was still really difficult. “I... don’t know how he feels though. Anytime I’ve tried to seriously bring it up, he turns it into a joke, so I really don’t know.” Under normal circumstances she’d be teasing him for this, but now wasn’t the time. She knew how vulnerable he was right now. She just wrapped a friendly arm around Sora and let him rest his head on her shoulder.

Kairi waited a moment before speaking again. “I know you Riku are… close. But he’s changed lately.” Sora didn’t reply, but he was painfully aware of what she meant. She realized Sora wasn’t enjoying where the conversation was going, so she grinned playfully instead, trying to change the tone. “Let’s take the raft together! Just the two of us!”

Sora pulled away, shocked by the suggestion. “What?? Are you serious?” She giggled and shook her head in response. Sora couldn’t help smile as he elbowed her gently. “Jerk. Don’t even joke about that. Riku is… Definitely different lately.” He admitted, remembering their fight from earlier and his friend’s all-too-serious speech from last night. “But we can’t leave him behind.”

Kairi nodded with a sigh. “Yeah. I know.” She said solemnly, almost sounding disappointed. They watched the sun fall another few minutes before she spoke up again. “You know, I don’t remember much about my world, but I remember being scared when I first came here. But… I’m not afraid to leave anymore. My heart is here. Which means that no matter where I go, I’ll always be able to return. Right?” The boy nodded assuringly.

“Yeah, of course! We can always come back home!!” He smiled brightly, making Kairi laugh. She sounded happy despite the sad tone on her face.

“Sora… Don’t ever change, okay?” She requested before standing up. She stared longingly into the ocean, as if searching desperately for her old world beyond the waves. “When we finally set sail, it’s gonna be great.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Donald, Sorry to rush off without sayin’ goodbye, but there’s big trouble brewin’. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin’ out one by one. And that means Disaster can’t be far behind. I hate to leave you all, but I’ve gotta go check into it There’s someone with a “Key”-- The key to our survival. I need you and Goofy to go find them and stick with them, got it? We need that key or we’re doomed!! Go to Traverse Town and find a man named Leon, he’ll point you in the right direction. P.S. Would you apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks pal. ~King Mickey_

The four animals stood around a table in the king’s study, where his pet had placed the letter. Daisy Duck trembled with anxiety as she finished reading. “Oh dear! What does this mean? What do we do?!”

Despite the severity of the situation, the queen stayed confident. “We’ll just have to trust the king! I know he wouldn’t put himself in danger unless he was helping people.”

Goofy hung his head in worry. “Gawrsh, I sure hope he’s alright…”

Donald saluted assuredly. “Don’t worry, your Highness! We’ll find the king and the ‘key’!”

Minnie smiled, putting all her faith in the two volunteers. “Thank you, both of you. You’re doing this kingdom a great service.” As her friends turned to leave, a soft voice cleared its throat to get everyone’s attention. Minnie turned and gestured to the king’s desk. “Oh, I almost forgot! This one will accompany you to chronicle your adventures.” Donald squinted, unable to see anyone at first. Eventually he noticed the small bug jumping up and down.

“Hiya! Jiminy Cricket, at your service.” He bowed and doffed his hat politely. The duck smiled and grabbed his new teammate, letting the bug rest on the brim of his hat.

Saluting one last time, Donald finally began to leave. The two women waved goodbye, and beside them Goofy saluted the wizard. “Safe travels Donald!”

“Ohhh no, you’re not getting out of this that easily!” The duck grabbed his companion, dragging him out of the room.

As the three walked down a staircase below the castle, Goofy talked to Jiminy, who now sat on his helm. “Gwarsh Jiminy, your world disappeared too?”

The cricket nodded solemnly. “‘Fraid so… It was a terrible ordeal, everyone was scattered. As far as I know, I’m the only one who made it out alright.”

“Speaking of worlds!” Donald snapped suddenly. “Do you two remember the most important rule of travel?” Jiminy huffed as the wizard interrupted. His instincts told him to correct Donald on his rudeness, but he had to remember that he couldn’t be everyone’s conscience.

Goofy just scratched his head in thought. “Uh… Oh right! While in other worlds, we can’t let on where we’re from. Gotta protect the world border!”

“ORDER.” Donald corrected. “Bad things happen when the world order is broken!”

Goofy nodded. “Right, the world order, got it!” He looked down at himself with concern. “We might need some new duds then, I dunno if knight’s armour is normal in other worlds...”

The duck shook his head. “Don’t worry, my magic will take care of it. Now shush, we’re approaching the ship!” The trio passed through a door to the very bottom of the castle.

The hangar below the building was full of whirring gears, and large, mechanized hands moving around the room. Nobody really understood what any of this was except for the mechanics, who stood in a small, glass control room at the top of the hangar. The chipmunks, Chip and Dale, moved around many different levers and switches, making the giant gloved hands place a red ship onto a launchpad. Donald walked up to a large speaker near the pad. “Donald Duck to launch crew! Ready when you are!” Nodding, Chip gestured to his brother. Dale ran across the control room to a large lever, throwing himself onto it to drop it down. Afterward, two of the hands zoomed across the room. They gripped the legs of Goofy and Donald, carrying them upside down and dropping them into the ship. The door to the garage opened behind them again, Pluto bolting through the room and leaping into the ship at the last moment as the cockpit closed. Behind the king’s pet, Minnie and Daisy stepped into the hangar just as the launch doors were opening. They waved goodbye one last time, and the heroes waved back. The ship rumbled as the engines started up. Donald grinned as the ship prepared to launch. He pointed out toward the open doorway, yelling triumphantly. “Blast off!!!!” After a moment without any movement, the launchpad that the ship sat on opened up. Everyone inside took a moment to register what was happening, before the rocket dropped down. The riders screamed as the ship fell through the ground, eventually exiting the world’s atmosphere and into the interspace between. Stars swirled above Donald before he shook his head and gripped the controls of the ship. “Alright, to Traverse Town!!” They sped off from their world.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora laid on his bed sleeplessly. Today had been… Really weird. He and everyone else on the island knew he was probably the worst fighter there, there was no way he should have been able to beat those three at once like that. And Riku had always been strong, but earlier he was more powerful and aggressive than he'd ever been. Plus the weird guy in the robe. He gave the boy all sorts of bad feelings. And Kairi’s cryptic words that still scared him. He sighed, looking over at the clock next to his bed. Midnight. He wished he could have fallen asleep by now, but every time he closed his eyes, all of the day’s strange events jumbled around in his mind, making sleep impossible. He groaned and turned the window next to his bed, hoping to find a bit of solace in the ocean. Once he looked out though, his heart sank. Black clouds had formed around their small island. Thunder roared, shaking even the main land, and lightning tore through the sky. “No, the raft!” Sora shouted. He got his clothes on quickly, adrenaline giving him an easier time dressing than he had this morning. Afterward, he threw open his window, hopping out of it to assure he wouldn’t alert his mother. Once outside, he took off sprinting toward the shore.

Sora’s mom heard her son’s yell, she assumed it was from the big storm. She left her room and rushed to his, knocking in concern. “Honey? Are you alright?” There was no answer. “Sora…?” 

It took the boy a few minutes to row from the mainland to the small island. When he finally got there, he docked his boat next to… “Riku’s and Kairi’s??” They must have snuck off here too. He didn’t have much time to think though. Despite the night being nearly too dark to see in, there were two spots on the ground that were even darker. It was strange, but they were somehow blacker than anything he’d seen before. The spots suddenly began to move. The shadows shifted and began to take on another form. The darkness turned into two small creatures with piercing yellow eyes. They twitched inhumanely, their eyes and antennae constantly shifting in all directions. Despite never looking directly at Sora, they began to advance toward him.

Sora panicked, looking around for something to defend himself with. As he stepped backwards, he nearly tripped on a piece of wood. No, not just wood. Someone apparently left a wooden sword on the dock. He didn’t have time to question it, grabbing the weapon and swinging wildly. The wooden blade made contact with the beings, but it just phased through them. It was like they weren’t even solid, there was no way to hurt them. With no other choice, the boy ran, jumping off the dock and onto the sand. More shadows appeared from the ground, all taking the same form. They all chased after Sora. He was faster, thankfully, but they kept on popping up, and it didn’t seem like they would stop. They would eventually catch up to him. On the cliff that the trio hung out on, Riku stood alone, staring off into the sea. Sora managed to dodge more monsters, heading toward the spot where his friend was. If anyone could save them it was him. “Riku!” He called out as he approached. “Is Kairi with you? Is she okay?!” He only just realized that his other friend wasn’t around, and she quickly became his top priority.

Riku boy stayed silent for a moment before speaking. “The door has opened…” He spoke in a monotone voice.

“...What…?” Sora had no idea what his friend was saying, but it really didn’t matter. “Whatever, we gotta get Kai!”

“I said the door is open, Sora!” Riku snapped as he finally turned around, a huge, unnatural grin on his face. “Now we can go to other worlds! It’s everything we wanted!!”

Sora stared in disbelief. “Wh...What? What the hell are you talking about, Riku?!” He snapped back, infuriated. “We need to find Kairi!!”

Riku’s grin grew wider. “Exactly! ‘Hell’ is just what I’m getting at!” He gestured above him, a dark orb floating above his head. It drew everything into it, even the wind, and it grew every moment. It wouldn’t be long before it consumed the island. “Don’t worry about Kairi, she’s coming with us! Once we go through, we can never come back. We’ll never see our friends or family again. This is exactly the opportunity we’ve been looking for!! We can’t let fear stop us from jumping in! We can’t be afraid of the darkness!” He held out his hand for Sora to take. Under any other circumstance, the gesture would fill the boy’s heart with joy. At the moment though, all he felt was terror. A dark hole opened up on the ground beneath Riku’s feet. Black tendrils came out, wrapping around him, but he didn’t care, still reaching his hand out for Sora to take.

“RIKU NO!!” Sora screamed, reaching his own arm out to grab his friend’s. The circle below Riku expanded though, growing to cover Sora as well. The black tendrils rose up, latching onto his body. He ignored it though. The only thing on his mind was saving his friend from the darkness. But he couldn’t reach. The shadows had taken a hold of both of them, immobilizing them. Sora kept reaching though. He was almost there. Just a little closer… Their fingertips touched, just moments before they were consumed. A blinding light flashed. It seemed to come from Riku at first, but it transferred from him to Sora.

When the light faded, the darkness was gone. Along with Riku. Sora’s hand suddenly felt heavy. He looked down to see he was clutching a giant key in his right hand. He stared at it with confusion, when a foreign voice sounded in his head, exactly like when he got that power boost earlier.

_Keyblade_

Sora didn’t understand anything that was happening, but he knew one thing: Riku was gone. He wanted to mourn, but there was no time, he had to find Kairi and make sure she didn’t suffer the same fate. The creatures again began to appear around him. He swung his new weapon on impulse, this time actually hitting one. The metal bashed against the dark creature, causing it to dissipate without any trace. With newfound confidence, Sora swung at other shadows, destroying each one. Like before though, they kept on coming, no matter how many he destroyed. Again, he had no choice but to run, slashing through the crowd as he looked frantically for Kairi. His gaze was drawn to the secret place. In place of the small cave entrance, a large, ornate door now stood. He ran toward it, subconsciously drawn to it by some force. Surrounded by monsters, he grabbed the door and threw it open, running into his old play place. He sprinted down the long corridor, seeing a figure at the very end. In the main part of the cave, surrounded by drawings, Kairi stood, staring at the door at the other end of the room. “Kai!! We gotta get outta here quick, come with me!”

The girl turned slowly, her face completely blank and lifeless. “...Sora…” She mumbled softly. She raised her arm up to reach for him, but she couldn’t get to him. Behind her, the door opened. Darkness spewed from the doorway, launching Kairi forward with its force. Sora braced himself against the dark energy, but noticed his best friend getting blown toward him. He opened his arms to catch her. When she reached him though, she phased right through him, her chest glowing the moment she passed him. When he turned around, she had disappeared completely. The force from the door was blowing too hard to withstand, eventually launching Sora away and out of the secret spot.

Outside, Sora saw that the storm had gotten much worse. Looking out at where the ocean used to be, there was nothing but a pitch-black void. Above the island, the small orb of darkness that used to be above Riku had now become massive, even larger than the island itself. It sucked everything into it, breaking off pieces of the land as it tried to consume the entire thing. Below the ball of darkness, a large shadow began to grow, bigger than any of the others. As it took on a solid form, it towered over Sora. He recognized it as the thing from his dreams. The one that had overtaken him in the nightmare. He shuddered in fear, but he couldn’t run away from this one, there was nowhere left to go.

Sora was terrified, but he forced himself to sprint toward the being, his weapon brandished in offense. He swung the keyblade and made contact with one of the creature’s hands, but it seemed unphased. He struck it again and again, certain he was doing damage, but it refused to react. Finally it began to move, bending its torso backward. In its chest was a giant, heart-shaped hole that now had another dark ball forming in the middle of it. When it had gotten big enough, it began shooting out black projectiles. Sora managed to block and dodge a few, but he got hit by several, the impact immensely painful. He still refused to back down though. The large thing reeled its arm back before bending forward and slamming its fist down. Dark shockwaves shook the ground, knocking Sora over. The being left its fist in the sand, a hole opening up around it that summoned many of the smaller creatures. Sora cut through a few of them as he tried to get to the big one again. He ran past its hand this time, jamming his key instead into one of the creature’s bright, yellow eyes. Finally, it reeled back in pain. It stepped back as it tried to recover, but lost its footing, accidentally allowing itself to be sucked into the ball above it. Unfortunately, getting rid of the monsters didn’t help. The darkness above Sora only grew larger, now threatening to pull him in as well. He tried to find something to hold onto, but there was nothing left. Despite how hard he tried to stay grounded, it was no use. He began to float above the ground, the dark orb pulling until finally drawing the boy in. With him gone, there was nothing else. His world had been completely consumed by the darkness.


	2. Gathering the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his island was destroyed, Sora winds up in Traverse Town. Separately, Donald and Goofy travel to the town looking for clues on their king's whereabouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two months later, here's the next chapter! Yeah sorry, if you're enjoying this story, you'll have to get used to my infrequent schedule unfortunately. But unlike with my other fics, which I've all but abandoned, I intend to keep this going as long as I can, so the chapters will come eventually. Anyway, enough of me ranting, here's the Traverse Town chapter. Oh, and content warning for strong language, heads up if you're sensitive to that.

Donald and Goofy walked through a plaza in a small town, with Jiminy on the duck’s hat and Pluto by their side. The place was full of various people, all with drastically different appearances and origins. But even among them, the two animals looked very out of place. Not because of their appearances, but because they were the only ones in town with happy expressions, everyone else having an eternally depressed aura surrounding them. The whole town did, in fact. The two were oblivious though, going about their merry way without worry. 

Goofy stopped though when he noticed blinking above him. He began to panic when he looked up at the sky. “Donald, a star just went out!” He shouted.

Donald shushed him as a few people looked in theri direction. “Not so loud!” This world was one of the few exceptions to the “order” rule, but Donald still didn’t want everyone knowing their mission. Even still, he looked up at the sky in concern too. “We’d better hurry…” The other nodded and they sped along through the town.

The four searched for only a little while, but Donald was already getting impatient. He wouldn’t admit it, but the stress of the situation was definitely getting to him. “Where the heck is that key?!” He shouted out suddenly as the group was walking down a street. A few bystanders looked over toward them for a moment before continuing to ignore them. 

Jiminy jumped onto the duck’s beak to talk to him face to face. “Aww, calm down Donald! Gosh, maybe we’d have an easier time if we looked for Leon first, dontcha think?”

He huffed and calmed himself down. “Yeah, yeah, fine… Onward to Leon then!” With new-found confidence, he marched along again, with Goofy happily following and Jiminy riding his hat again.

Goofy looked back to make sure Pluto was still with them, but surprisingly he wasn’t. He stopped and looked around, finding the dog sniffing the ground as he walked toward an alleyway. Goofy frowned and turned back toward the others. “Uh Donald? I think we should go this-”

“Aw, what do you know, you big palooka?” Donald snapped in interruption. Jiminy scolded him, unable to hold his manner-teaching urges back, but the duck ignored him.

Goofy just shrugged in response. “What _do_ I know?” He caught back up with the others and smiled innocently, his concerns about Pluto fading.

Sniffing down an alleyway between buildings, Pluto eventually came to a person lying unconscious by a few boxes, obstructing him from view. The boy didn’t smell like the rest of this world, he smelled like sand and salt water. Next to him though laid his weapon, the same kind that Pluto’s master had. He jumped on the boy excitedly and licked him until he finally regained consciousness.

Sora giggled as he slowly awoke, vision still blurry. He knew it, that terrible night had only been a dream. He was back in his bed, laying with his… Wait, no, he didn’t own a dog. He blinked a few times and opened his eyes wide. He was in a completely unfamiliar place with a dog on his lap and the keyblade by his side. None of it was a dream. “Where… Where am I…?” He stood and looked around, panicking. He wanted to cry, he’d never been anywhere like this before and he was all alone. He looked down at the dog beside him and gave a weak smile. “At least I have you… Do you know where we are?” After all the weird stuff he just went through, he almost expected the dog to respond. Instead of speaking though, it barked before running off, leaving Sora alone again.

After several minutes of not at all crying in the alleyway, Sora finally walked out, into the larger town. The place wasn’t enormous or anything, it was just a small city, but it was the biggest he had ever seen. The boy stared in awe, eyes roaming to every single thing he saw. Everything was mundane and dreary, but he still stared in amazement. Finally, it dawned on him. “I’m in another world!!” Everything he’d gone through still weighed down on him, but his child-like wonder still shone through. Unfortunately, the innocent moment didn’t last long. He needed to find Riku and Kairi. Unsure where to search, he stepped into the nearest store.

“Hey there, how can I-” An older blonde man turned toward Sora, grimacing as soon as he saw the boy. A cigarette stuck loosely out of his mouth, but it somehow stayed in place regardless of his expression. “Ah shit, just a kid.” He turned back around, ignoring the boy.

“I’m not a kid! And my name is Sora!!” He snapped back with a huff. The man turned back around. He had a bit of respect for anyone who stood up to him.

“Alright, alright, don’t get your panties in a twist kid.” The shopkeeper took another puff from his cigarette. “You lost or somethin’? Never seen you around here.”

Sora frowned, offended. “I’m not lost!! I just… Don’t know where I am…” He admitted dejectedly. “Last thing I remember, I was on my island, then a bunch of dark stuff appeared, and now I’m here. Is this really another world, gramps?”

The man growled. “Damnit kid, ain’t no one taught you manners?! The name’s Cid!” He sighed with a remorseful look, taking another puff before speaking softer. “It’s always rough breakin’ this to a kid… Look, it’s gonna be hard to hear, but if you’re in Traverse Town, then most likely something happened to whatever world you came from. Same as mine, same as everyone else in this town. But, I got good news for ya. Only people with strong hearts survive somethin’ like that, so that means you must be a good kid. ‘Course that means anyone with a weaker heart is… uh… Shit, you know what? Let’s forget that part. Anything else you wanna know?”

That was a lot to process. Sora sat down on a small couch that rested at the opposite end of the room. “So that means… Riku and Kairi…” He couldn’t finish. The thought was too painful. Not to mention his other friends and his family. He stood up stubbornly. “No… No! Their hearts are stronger than mine, there’s no way they didn’t make it here! I have to go look for them!!”

Cid nodded. “You go Sora, I’ll be rootin’ for ya.” He said nonchalantly, but the sentiment was genuine. “God knows where I’d be now my friends hadn’t come with me… Tell ya what kid, come back here anytime you need. I can’t help much, but I’ve been in a fight or two, and if you got cash, I got some stuff that’ll help you out.”

Sora smiled, relieved to have found a friend here. “I appreciate it, thanks gramps!” He ran out before Cid could curse at him again. 

Sora began his search from there, eventually figuring out this part of town was called the first district. He looked in a few more buildings, talked to more people, but there was absolutely no trace of his friends. Eventually he’d explored most of the district and decided to head on to the next one. Large wooden doors separated the districts, and with one of them sealed off, the only place he could go was district two.

As soon as he stepped through that doorway, a man pushed past him, running as fast as he could. The guy tripped and fell, a look of pure terror on his face as he looked back up. He screamed in pain as his heart was torn from his body by some invisible force. It floated over the pavement as the man’s body faded away. When it did, a new creature appeared to claim the heart, absorbing it into itself. It looked similar to the demons that Sora had fought before, but this one was taller, with armour and sharp claws. It slowly turned its head toward him, several more appearing behind it afterward. 

Sora was forced to summon his weapon. The foes weren’t difficult to beat, but he felt sick to his stomach afterward. “Are these monsters... eating people’s hearts…?” He didn’t want to think of the implications of that or how it worked, but it filled him with dread regardless. He shook his head. “No… I can’t worry about that now… I need to find the others.” He reasoned, forcing himself to continue onward. He noticed a large hotel by him, which he figured might be a good place to look.

As the boy opened the doors to the hotel, Donald and Goofy opened the doors to the second district. “Hellooooo? Leoooooon?” Goofy yelled out, still on the search for the man.

Donald shushed him again. “Why do you keep on yelling?? Anyway, we just gotta keep looking.” They continued on, heading toward the hotel.

Nope, Riku and Kairi weren’t in there. Still determined though, Sora ran out of the hotel, not noticing the other entrance opening up. Just outside the inn stood a tall clocktower with an entrance to the maintenance room. It was a weird place to search, but it was with a shot.

Donald clenched his beak in frustration as they exited the hotel. “Blast it, where is he?!” The duck shouted loudly. 

Goofy shrugged. “Hey, maybe that Gizmo Shop is a good place to look?” He suggested, pointing toward the clocktower. Donald sighed and nodded as they started toward it.

Unsurprisingly, Sora’s friends weren’t in there either. He exited through another door at the opposite end of the tower. Hopping back down to the main street, the next notable building he saw had large, silver doors for an entrance. He didn’t know where it led, but it was at least worth a shot. As he entered the fancy house, Donald and Goofy exited the clocktower.

Inside the new building, Sora found two dogs cuddled up to each other, too depressed to react to the boy’s entrance. “Aww… What’s wrong you two?” He sat next to them and began to pet them. Somehow seemingly able to understand his question, one of the dogs lifted her paw to point to the opposite end of the room. Sora turned around, not noticing before now the handful of dog beds in rows against the wall. “Puppies??” He was a little more excited than concerned. The dog nodded, then pointed upwards. “Huh? The ceiling?” His gaze followed her paw, but she shook her head. “Uh… Oh! The sky?” She nodded. “They're... in other worlds?” The mother nodded solemnly, resting her head back down on her mate. Sora stood up, determined. “Don’t worry, I’m officially technically a world-traveler. If I end up at the world your kids are in, I’ll bring them back to you!” Both of them looked up hopefully and cuddled up to him, licking his face in gratitude. “Ahhh stop!” He laughed in delight as the two dogs showed their thanks. “I’d love to stay a little longer, but I have my own friends I really need to search for, you understand right?” They nodded and got off of him so he could go on his way. He headed out what he thought to the back door, but it just went to another room, this one with even more beds. Then more and even more dog beds as he walked through the house, looking for the exit. He started to have second thoughts about the promise he’d just made. Eventually, he managed to find the door outside, just barely out of earshot of a duck screaming in anger into the night sky.

Sora searched around a bit more, fought a few more monsters, but his friends were nowhere to be found. Eventually, he resigned and headed back to Cid’s shop, having nowhere else to go. 

“Still no luck?” The man guessed as Sora sat dejectedly on the couch in his shop. He shook his head and Cid sighed, taking a puff from his cigarette. “Well, I don’t know how to help with that, but I do have somethin’ else that might help ya.” He stepped out from behind his counter and toward a glass case in the middle of the room. “Got any cash?” He asked as he unlocked the case. Sora nodded, reaching into his pocket. For some reason, the creatures he fought tended to drop munny when they were defeated. Cid grabbed a necklace from his jewelry case before stepping over to Sora, taking the handful of crystalized currency from the boy and handing him the chain. “Wrap that ‘round your neck.” Confused, Sora did so. Immediately, he felt a small burst of power due to the necklace. “Betcha thought I sold normal trinkets and crap here, didn’t ya? Well surprise, all my shit’s magic! That there’s a ‘protect chain’, makes your skin a little tougher, meaning you can take more of a beating.”

“Magic?!” Sora couldn’t believe it, as far as he knew up to now magic was actually real. Then again, Riku did just summon a black void to eat their world, so his entire sense of what was possible or not was completely destroyed after that. 

Cid laughed. “You don’t got magic in your world? Damn, you’re a little behind the times then. Anyhow, you best head off again. Got a friend headin’ by here in a few and no offense, but a kid sulking in the corner is an awkward conversation starter.” Sora nodded, trying not to take offense at that remark. It was hard to sour his mood when he was so excited. He headed off as requested, happily running out the door.

“They’ll come at you from out of nowhere.” A low voice spoke toward Sora’s direction. The boy whipped around toward the voice.

“Who…?” A man he didn’t recognize was walking by the shop toward him. He was definitely older than Sora, but not as much as Cid. He had a huge gun handle sticking out from behind his back, making the boy go tense.

“And they’ll keep on coming at you…” The man continued walking toward Sora, who anxiously summoned his keyblade in anticipation. The man stopped and pointed at Sora’s weapon, “...as long as you continue to wield the keyblade.” He sighed and shook his head. “But why? Why did the keyblade choose a kid like you?”

Sora scowled. “I’m not a kid!! And what does that even mean anyway?!” The man started to approach again, and the boy took up a defensive stance.

“Never mind. Just let me see that keyblade.” He reached a hand out as he got closer. 

Sora gripped his weapon tighter. “No way! It’s mine!!” He fought back. He honestly didn’t know why he was so possessive of the thing when he’d only just gotten it, but it felt like it was already a part of him. 

The man nodded. “I figured as much. Guess we’ll need to do this the hard way then.” He reached for the gun on his back, causing Sora to flinch. As he pulled the weapon though, he revealed that the gun handle led into a large blade instead. He held the strange weapon with one hand as he sprinted toward Sora.

What little confidence Sora had immediately left him and he ran as fast as he could from the man sprinting toward him. He only narrowly evaded a few sword swings as he made his way through town, away from the accessory shop. The man sped after him with finesse, making certain his sword went nowhere near anything but his target. Eventually, Sora came to a dead-end at the giant sealed gates at the edge of the city. He turned back around, only to see that his assailant had paused a few feet away.

The man held his sword over his shoulder, now extending his hand as a weapon instead. It glowed a bright red for a moment before a ball of fire shot out from his palm. Sora would have been enamoured by the spectacle, if he wasn’t fearing for his life right now. He turned and attempted to run past the attack, but the orb followed him, blasting him in the back and knocking him to the ground. 

He only barely managed to recover from the blast before the man was right behind him. Sora turned and held his keyblade in front of him, blocking just as the attacker had slashed downward. He smiled, proud of himself in the moment for being able to guard the hit. That was, until the man finally pulled the trigger on the handle of his blade. It let out a small but powerful burst, the force strong enough to stagger Sora and get him back on the ground. Unable to block again in time, the man flipped his weapon upside down and slammed the hilt into Sora’s head, knocking him out cold.

“Ow… Don’t you think you were a little hard on the kid?” Another figure dropped from a nearby rooftop next to them. This one was a short, thin girl, around the same age as Sora.

The man shrugged as he turned to his friend. “Relax, he’ll live. Besides, I was under the impression that keyblade wielders knew how to fight. This kid… He fought like he only got his weapon a minute ago.” He sighed and shook his head as he lifted Sora up and slung him over his shoulders. “This is bad. Things around here are getting even worse. I was hoping a keyblade wielder would be able to tip the odds in our favour, but now I don’t know.”

He began walking across town, with the girl following right behind him. “Hey, don’t think like that! We can win this thing, odds don’t matter as long as you look on the bright side of things.” The man responded with a small smile as he tried to take her advice and stay hopeful. She had a more mischievous smirk on her face though as he stared at the boy. “In this case, one bright side is that he won’t notice if we have a look at what’s in his wallet~”

As she reached an arm out, he smacked it away with his free hand, giving the girl a disappointed scowl. “ _This_ is why I always need to keep an eye on you.” She shrugged innocently and he shook his head as they carried on. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Riku woke up face down on a slab of pavement. He groaned as he got himself up, holding his head in pain. “What… Where…” He looked around. He realized that the ground he was on was a chunk of land floating in the air above the surface of a lake. Around him were several other levitating landmasses. And below him, the water he was over flowed behind him and up a backwards waterfall. The whole environment was otherworldly, it was… It was exactly that, another world. Upon the realization, all of the previous night’s events flowed back into Riku’s memory. He remembered everything he did, up to when he allowed himself to be swallowed by darkness. He remembered what he had said to… “Sora!!” He screamed out in anguish. “Kairi!” He was desperate to find his friends, even if he didn’t actually believe they had made it. He looked down in regret, clenching his fists. He was filled with guilt and rage at himself for doing what he did.

Off in the distance, a woman draped in a black cloak looked down toward the boy from a higher ledge. “Interesting… Very interesting.” She watched him with a delighted smirk.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donald was at the end of his rope. He, Goofy, and Jiminy were now exploring a back alley behind the hotel, still no sign of Leon anywhere. The wizard was absolutely fed up with this taking so long.

Goofy was oblivious as always though as he scanned his surroundings. “Gwarsh, there’s nobody here at all… It’s pretty spooky!”

“Ah, phooey! I’m not scared at all!” Donald snapped back in annoyance.

Behind them, another figure approached the group, their footsteps silent as they got close. Right behind Donald, the figure reached out to tap his shoulder.

“WAAAAAAAAA!!!” Donald screamed and jumped up from the surprise touch. He landed in Goofy’s arms, holding him close as he shivered.

“Excuse me.” The voice was soft and delicate. When they turned toward the figure, they saw it was a young woman who’d snuck up on them. “Did the king send you?”

The trio sighed in relief as they finally found someone who could help them.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on you lazy bum, wake up!”

Sora slowly began to open his eyes as heard a feminine voice above him. His vision was still hazy, so he couldn’t quite make out who the person was. The silhouette almost looked like… Kairi?

The voice spoke up again, more sympathetically this time. “You okay? You took a heck of a beating back there.”

Ah, right, that explained the splitting headache. He hoped for a minute that he’d wake up from his nightmare, but no, that fight he was just in was definitely real. “I guess I’m okay…” He didn’t want to mention the soreness all over his body. He shut his eyes to try and get more rest, but the figure above him continued.

“They were after you because of the keyblade, you know. The monsters, I mean. It’s your heart they really want though, a keyblade wielder’s heart is too strong for them to resist.” She explained, seeming to know everything about the creatures.

Sora had no idea why Kairi would know any of that, but he didn’t question it. In the moment, he was just happy to be with his friend again. “Well at least you’re safe, Kairi.”

“Kairi? Who’s that?” It took this long for Sora’s head to finally clear up. He realized that the voice was deeper than Kairi’s, and the figure was taller. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes before looking up, now clearly seeing a girl just a little older than him grinning down at him. “I’m the Great Ninja, Yuffie~!” He looked up at her in confusion as he sat up. She giggled at his distress, turning back to look at a man who leaned against a wall on the other side of the room. “I think you overdid it Squall, he’s seeing things.”

“ _Leon_.” He snapped back, correcting her. “A decade later and you still can’t get it right…” He sighed in disappointment.

As the man spoke, Sora recognized him as his attacker. “You! You’re the one who knocked me out!!” He glared, but Leon didn’t react. “And where’s my… My keyblade!” He looked briefly for his weapon before seeing it leaning against the wall behind Leon.

Yuffie nodded, stealing the spotlight from Leon before he got the chance to speak. "Yup! We had to get it off you to get rid of those creatures." She explained as she paced the room. "They use that to track you down."

"The only way to conceal your heart from them was to take away the blade." Leon took over the lecture, earning a pout from Yuffie. "But it won't work for long." He sighed as he looked Sora up and down. "Still can't believe it… It's been years since there's been a keyblade wielder, and now that we have one around it's just some weak kid." He shook his head in disappointment. Before Sora could object, Leon picked up the keyblade to demonstrate something. He held the weapon out to the side and Sora watched as it flashed brightly before returning to his own hands. Leon sighed again. "Yup, you're definitely it's master… Oh well, I guess beggars can't be choosers."

Sora glared at the man. "None of this makes any sense! What's going on?!" Apparently there were more keyblade wielders. Or at least there used to be. And apparently Sora's skills didn't match up at all. But it wasn't fair to compare them, he'd only just learned about his power last night. He didn't know what a keyblade was or what the creatures were. It was all so confusing. He sat back in frustration, unable to comprehend anything that was going on.

As Leon began to explain more, in the next room over, a woman explained similar information to the animal ensemble. "You're aware that there are many worlds out there other than your castle and this town." She stated matter of factly and they all nodded. Goofy looked at her worriedly though.

"I thought that was s'posed to be a secret…" He covered his mouth as if he said something he shouldn't have.

The girl nodded. "They've been secret because they've never been connected before now. But when the heartless came, everything changed."

"Heartless?" Sora asked in confirmation as Leon explained the situation to him. 

Yuffie nodded, taking over again. "They're the weird black things that have been attacking you." She was now sitting on the bed next to Sora as she spoke. 

"They are those without hearts." Leon interrupted to give a better description. "They're attracted to the darkness in people's hearts. And there's darkness in _every_ heart." He spoke grimly, knowing first-hand what kind of power the monsters have. 

Yuffie chimed in again to change the subject, not liking the dark path it was going in. "Ooh, hey, have you ever heard of a guy named Ansem?? That would make this easier to explain."

"Ansem?" Goofy turned his head to the side as he tried to think. The woman in front of them nodded.

"He was studying the heartless. He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report." Her tone grew more hopeful as she described the man.

"Gawrsh, can we have a look?" Goofy reached out his hand expectantly.

The woman soured again as she shook her head. "Sorry, but it's lost… the pages were scattered everywhere."

"What do ya mean 'scattered'??" Donald had been quiet for most of the time she was talking, but his investment in the story caused him to be concerned as well.

"To many worlds." She clarified. "All across the universe."

Goofy perked up with an idea. "Oh! Maybe that's what the king left to find!" He suggested hopefully."

The girl nodded in agreement. "My thoughts exactly. Your king may be vital to helping us understand and defeat the heartless."

"Then what are we waitin' for?? Let's go find him!" Goofy rushed toward the door, but stopped short at Donald's shout.

"Wait!!" He grabbed his friend and pulled him back. "We gotta find that 'key' first remember??"

"You mean the keyblade?" The woman suggested.

"So this is… The key…?" Sora asked as he held up his blade.

"Exactly!" Yuffie agreed excitedly.

Leon scowled at their joy in this dire situation. "The heartless are afraid of the keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what."

Sora frowned, the whole situation intimidated him still. "But I didn't ask for this!! I don't wanna be a hero, I just wanna be back home and normal again!"

For the first time, Yuffie looked sad now too, sympathizing with his situation. She and Leon both knew what it felt like to be unable to return home. "Sorry… But keyblades choose their masters. And this one chose you. If we could change that, we would." She said calmly, hoping to soothe him a bit.

“So tough luck, kid.” Leon added, ruining Yuffie’s caring attitude. She huffed at him, but stayed sitting next to Sora.

He shared her annoyance, but moved on to his next point. “How did all this even happen? That old guy Cid told me something bad must have happened to my world, but that’s not true, right?? Riku and Kairi have to be okay!”

Yuffie had to keep from snickering when he called Cid “old guy”, but Leon’s emotion didn’t change, he just shook his head. “No idea. As a keyblade wielder, that’s your job to find out.” It wasn’t at all a reassuring answer, but Leon didn’t give Sora a chance to argue. “Yuffie.” He addressed the other teen, who hopped up off the bed. “We should go see Aerith, she probably has the other visitors next door by now.”

Yuffie nodded and crossed the room to meet up with Leon, but Sora wasn’t satisfied. “Wait, you can’t just leave it at that!! I still need more answers!”

Before either could reply, they heard noises from the other end of the room. Yuffie was the first to pick up on what was happening. “Crap, Leon!” She warned just as an armoured heartless began clawing its way up from a shadow on the floor.

Leon drew his gunblade from his back, running in front of the Yuffie. “Go make sure the others are okay.” She nodded, hurrying to the door behind him. “Sora.” The boy had already drawn his own weapon. Whether he liked it or not, he knew had to fight. “From here on out, be ready to fight for your life.”

Hearing commotion from the next room, Donald walked up to a door that separated the hotel rooms. As he reached for it, the door slammed open from the other side, flattening him against the wall. Aerith stood up in concern. “Yuffie?”

“We gotta go, heartless are here!” She didn’t register her friend’s guests that were still in the room, she just grabbed Aerith by the wrist and ran out with her. Aerith was reluctant, not wanting to leave the others on their own, but she had already been dragged out of the room before she could argue.

Leon slashed at the heartless soldier, and when he pulled his trigger, the blast launched the creature through the hotel window. He gestured at Sora to follow before leaping out and into the alleyway below.

With too much happening to properly comprehend, Goofy stepped over to the separating door, moving it to reveal Donald, still flat against the wall. “Uh, do ya think we should go help them?”

Outside, Sora and Leon were cutting through a wave of heartless. When he wasn’t trying to kill him, Sora was able to properly observe how much better of a fighter Leon was than him. The taller man switched between expert swordsmanship and various blasts of magic, meanwhile Sora swung his sword without much precision until it managed to hit something.

They took out a decent number of enemies before Leon turned to Sora. “There’s too many of them. We have to find the leader.” He decided before running off, Sora following right behind. 

The duo weaved through many more of the small heartless, not bothering to take the time to kill them. Eventually, Leon led Sora to another part of town where he’d never been, the third district. Here, there was a much larger horde of the creatures, the two had no choice but to battle them.

Above, Donald and Goofy had found themselves up on a large balcony, chased there by another group of heartless. They tried to avoid confrontation, but they ran into a dead end. They both raised their weapons in defense, Goofy’s shield and Donald’s staff “Gwarsh, you think these are the heartless guys?” the knight observed.

“Of course they are!” Donald scolded. “And it’s our job to take them out! Let’s get ‘em goofy!!” He stood triumphantly in front of the group they were up against.

Before they knew it, Donald and Goofy were soaring through the air, thrown off by one of the heartless. Sora looked up as he heard something falling toward him, but he was too late to react. The pair of animals crashed onto him, knocking him to the ground. As they all groaned, Donald and Goofy opened their eyes to see the large weapon the boy beneath them held. “The key!” They shouted in unison.

Still on the ground, all three of them noticed it rumbling intensely. Around them, massive pillars rose, blocking off any means of escape. “We’re trapped!” Leon yelled, still in the midst of battle. After the pillars arose, the heartless in the small area only multiplied. The three on the ground finally stood, taking up battle stances next to one another.

With four people fighting, it wasn’t long until the heartless’ numbers thinned, and thankfully no more were showing up. Eventually, they were able to take all of them out, still without too much trouble. There was only a moment’s respite after the final opponent though. From the sky, several giant pieces of purple armour fell to the ground inside the arena. They all trembled before rising up. The pieces didn’t connect, but they floated in the air next to each other. Once the torso and limbs were together, the helmet fell last, landing on top of the rest before floating above it.

Once all the pieces were there, the armour began to advance on the group. Leon immediately went on the offensive, attacking one of the floating gauntlets. He managed to get a few blows in, before the arm reeled back and slammed into him, knocking him across the arena. 

The other three were intimidated after that, but they advanced anyway. Goofy went for the boots, ramming his shield into them, while Donald called down bolts of lightning onto the helmet. Sora meanwhile decided to copy Leon’s strategy, bashing the gauntlet with his keyblade. It brought its hand back again, but Sora managed to roll out of the way before he got hit. He went to attack again, but it tried another approach. It reeled back again, but this time it swirled both its arms around its body, advancing on Sora. Even if it was aiming for him, when it began walking, its boots stomped on Goofy as well, crushing him.

Leon finally recovered enough to rejoin the fight, hopping in front of Sora to deflect the gauntlets before they could hit him. When it hit Leon’s blade, its arms bounced back in recoil, opening it up for attack. Leon and Sora split up to go for the arms, while Donald rushed to heal Goofy so they could attack the feet again.

The armour’s limbs all suddenly backed away from their attackers. The torso drifted off to the other side of the small area, as its appendages mixed up who they fought. The boots stomped toward Leon and Sora, relentless in their attack, forcing the two to run to avoid them. The claws meanwhile swiped at Donald and Goofy. Goofy was only barely able to deflect the hits, but Donald took a lot of slashes, unable to properly defend himself. He cast spells against the hands, but they didn’t seem to take much damage.

It wasn’t long before everyone got over powered by the suit of armour. The hands grabbed the two animals, and the swordsman were crushed underneath the giant boots. As they struggled to move, failing under the weight of the shoes, they suddenly felt the force being lifted off of them. 

When Sora looked up, he saw a giant spear impaling both the boots. Gripping the end of it was Cid, grinning down at the two. “Heh, you’re welcome kid. If it weren’t for that chain I gave ya, you might not be here by now. And Leon, I expect better from you.”

Leon rolled his eyes at Cid’s disapproval as he got up. On the other side of the arena, Yuffie was saving Donald and Goofy from the hands. She turned to give Leon a quick wave before going back to throwing her giant shuriken at the arms, beating them from a distance until they dropped the animals. Finally, Aerith stood in front of the torso, casting immensely powerful spells to try and take down the armour’s main segment. Everything she did, lightning, flames, and ice, were leagues above the magic Donald was capable of. 

The giant heartless wasn’t finished just yet, but once the others rejoined and everybody attacked all at once, the limbs started disappearing one by one until the main body was left. It still never stopped attacking, even without the limbs it managed to ram its body into its attackers. They took turns going at it, but the main piece was much tougher than the others. 

Noticing an opening between attacks, Sora ran up to it. Knowing the boy still couldn’t do much on his own, Leon quickly sprinted in place in front of Sora, crouching down and holding his gunblade flat above his head. Catching on with his idea, Sora leapt onto the weapon. Leon pushed upward, launching Sora high enough to slam his keyblade down onto the helmet. With that last hit, it was finally over. After taking enough damage, the body began to vibrate. It shook powerfully until the head fell off and it stopped moving. A bright light flashed from the top before an enormous heart flew out, disappearing into the dark sky. Finally, the body and head disappeared. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So… You guys were looking for me?” Donald and Goofy had been explaining their story to the others. After their battle, the group headed to a vacant house in the third district in order to rest and talk.

“Yup!” Donald answered, very relieved that they finally got what they came for. “Maybe if the king told us it was a key _blade_ we were looking for, we might’ve found you sooner…” He complained, though he was still in a good mood. 

Leon nodded. “The king talked to us before you came. Sorry I hid from you at first. I wanted to see what Sora was capable of before letting him go with you. He needs plenty of work, but he’s capable enough.”

Sora frowned at him. Ignoring the poor performance review, there was something more pressing. “Wait, what do you mean ‘go with them’?”

Goofy looked down, embarrassed. “Whoops, guess we forgot to mention that part… We’re going to different worlds on our vessel, saving ‘em from darkness. We’re supposed to bring you with us! If you wanna come, that is.”

Sora gave a smile, but it faltered immediately. “I still don’t know where Riku and Kairi are though…” He looked like he was about to cry again. After all this time, he still found no sign of them.

“Of course you will!” Donald assured confidently. “If they aren’t here, they gotta be someplace we’re going.” Sora’s mood brightened again.

Goofy leaned toward his friend, whispering so Sora couldn’t hear. “You sure we’ll be able to find ‘em?”

Donald shook his head. “Probably not, but if we wanna find the king, we need the kid to come along.”

“Just go with them.” Leon advised, even knowing the animals were likely scheming something. “I don’t know if you’ll find your friends, but you’ll have a much better chance out there then you would staying here.”

Sora was also easily able to tell that the two were making plans behind his back, and despite Leon’s unusually kind words, that “if” didn’t give him much courage. He let out a sigh of frustration. “I guess I’ll go…”

“Uh-uh, nope!” Donald contradicted. “You can’t come along if you look like that, got it?” Sora looked up at him warily. “No frowning, no sad faces. Okay?”

“Yeah!” Goofy added. “You gotta look funny, like us!”

Donald shoved him out of the way and continued. “Our ship runs on happy faces!”

“Happy…?” Sora looked down, dejected. They watched with concern and anticipation, until Sora brought his head back up, now with a giant, forced grin on his face.

Goofy and Donald burst out laughing. “That really is a funny face!” Goofy said through his laughter. Sora and the others couldn’t help join in, even Leon softly chuckling.

When the merriment died down, Sora spoke up again. “Alright, why not. I’ll join you guys.” He agreed.

“Great!! I’m Donald, by the way!” The duck added, realizing they hadn’t introduced themselves yet.

“Name’s Goofy!” The other added.

“Hold it!” A new voice chimed in. A well-dressed bug jumped down from Donald’s hat where he’d been hiding. He leaned on the ground and bowed politely. “I’m Jiminy, I’m here to journal this quest! Sorry I didn’t come out sooner, a lot’s just happened an’ I’ve been rushin’ to write it all down…” 

“I’m Sora.” The boy smiled again, a normal one this time. “Nice to meet all three of you!” 

Donald and Goofy reached their hands out on top of each other, and Jiminy jumped up to join in. Sora copied the motion so all their hands were together.

“All for one, and one for all!” Goofy announced excitedly.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far off, in a distant world, a group stood in a darkened room, surrounding a table that displayed on it an image of the newly assembled group.

“That little squirt took out that heartless!” A voice spat out in fiery rage. “I know he had friends, but he still should've been mincemeat regardless!”

“Such is the power of the keyblade.” A deeper, calmer voice argued back. “The child’s strength is not his own.”

“We should just turn _him_ into a heartless!” Another deep, yet feminine voice suggested. “That’ll settle things quick enough!” She laughed maniacally

“The brat’s friends there are the king’s lackeys.” a more crass voice observed. “Swoggle me eyes, they’re all bilge rats by the look of them.”

“You’re no prize yourself!” A suave voice spat out.

“Why you…” The previous voice fought back.

“Don’t embarrass yourselves.” A menacing voice came from a corner of the room. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were children as well. The boy is nothing to get worked up over.”

“I don’t care much about the kid, but I’d love to get my hand on that key.” A gruff voice admired from another corner.

There was a high-pitched giggle from near them. “I’m just excited to see what kind of a fight he’ll put up~”

_“Enough!”_ A commanding voice snapped, and all turned to view their leader. “For whatever reason, the keyblade has chosen this boy.” She informed as she made her way into the circle. “This means his heart is stronger than anyone any of you have encountered before.” The figure that the voice came from gave a wicked grin. “Will he be able to conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness consume him? Either way, he will be quite useful to us.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The four warriors from Traverse town stood around Sora, right by the gate exiting the town where Donald and Goofy’s ship was parked. Aerith crouched to hand a pouch of munny to Sora. “It’s not too much, but it should help you out. And this is from Leon.” She handed him a healing elixir. “Good luck on finding your friends!” She added sincerely, giving a warm smile.

Yuffie grabbed Sora’s free hand to shake goodbye. “Have fun out there! And be sure to come around again soon!” 

“And be sure to bring lots more cash when ya do!” Cid added on with a teasing grin.

Leon stepped to the front of the group. “Sorry we can’t come with. We need to protect Traverse Town. Got one more thing for you though.” He held out his hand to create a small fireball, which he held stable. “Try to reach for it. Not with your hands, with your soul, if that makes sense.” Sora was wary, but he did as told. He held his hand out and closed his eyes, imagining himself grabbing the fire. Finally, he drew the magic from Leon, obtaining it for himself. “Good.” Leon praised for the first time. “Now try it out.”

Sora aimed his hand at one of the town’s brick walls. Concentrating, he shot out a small blast of flame. It was weak, but it was still magic. “Woah!” Sora stared at his hand in awe.

Donald nodded. “I’ll teach you how to use it better. Now come on, We gotta get going.”

“Yeah!” Sora cheered. “Ready to go to a bunch of other worlds!!”

The enormous gate door led outward to nothing but empty space. The town really was a small place for refugees, with no larger world to connect to. Thankfully, Donald and Goofy’s ship was floating immediately outside. The group hopped inside and took off, their adventure now truly beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, end of another chapter. The first thing I wanna note, sorry if the switching back and forth between parties wasn't as smooth as it is in the game, it's one of my favourite parts of beginning of the game so I hope I recreated it well enough. Also, I'm sorry if the fight scene was rough, I don't have the most experience with those. Then again maybe the entire chapter is fucked, idk. On to stuff I think I did well, it should be obvious how much I love focusing on the Final Fantasy characters. Kingdom Hearts is an FF crossover afterall, they should get just a little more attention. Out of character accuracy, I gave Cid his sailor mouth back, but don't worry, he's the only one. I'm not just going to load this kid's story with pointless swears. This is just what you get when you try to crossover kid's movies with adult games. God KH is a weird concept... While I'm on adding in FF content, I hope 8 fans appreciate me having Sora draw his magic from Squall, I'm way more proud of that idea than I should be. Anyway, moving on, I'm aware that Guard Armour is nowhere near that overpowered, but I needed an excuse to have a fight scene with all the FF characters. And I wanna highlight just how pathetic Sora is at this point before he unlocks his potential. Plus it's just too cool of a design to be as pathetic as it is in the original game, getting bodied by a level 5 Sora with no abilities who only got his weapon the night before. Oh and yeah, all of the heartless are using their original design because 90% of the Final Mix designs are so much worse. I know this fic is not a visual media, but when I read I like to have vivid images in my head, so I like adding design details like that for anyone else who wants them. Last thing to talk about, I added some new villains. It should be obvious who everyone else is, despite me keeping up the mystery for the fun of it, but the new three voices should be harder to guess. Or maybe they're obvious too idfk. One of them will be revealed next chapter anyway, whenever that comes out, so it doesn't matter. I think that's enough of me praising my own mediocre writing decisions for now. Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to comment any criticism, lord knows I need it. See you next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, you made it to the end, so I'm gonna hope you enjoyed my version of the events. I wanted to make have deeper and more varied connections with his friends, especially the Final Fantasy trio, who I'm sad to see die cause I had a lot of fun writing their scenes. Same with Sora's mom, I didn't wanna include her too much, but still enough that it hurts more when she dies, cause I'm a sadist like that. I changed up Sora's personality too, I made him physically and emotionally even weaker than normal. I wanted him to feel like an actual teen, with an awkward crush and unstable emotions. Kairi I made a bit stronger, being the one Sora runs to when he's upset. If you hadn't picked up on it already, I also gave her ADD. I know that mental disorders don't equal character traits, but I still wanted to give her something to add to her bland character (and it's definitely not an excuse to project through my characters). She's now the aloof, mischievous, emotionally supportive tomboy that she deserves to be. Also, side note, this fic will include very little to no sexual references, I just thought it would be funny if she teased Sora about having awkward dreams. And I also wanted to reference that she is most certainly also bi, cause I do that to all my characters. Anyway, Riku is still the manipulative bitch we all know and love. I think it's in line for his personality, even going by the game, to have him relentlessly tease Sora about his crush instead of confronting it. Won't reveal yet what Riku's feelings are, but stay tuned. I think that's I have for now. I absolutely encourage constructive criticism though. I hope you liked this enough to keep reading!


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